diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 84c048a..0d67169 100755
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,6 @@
 /build/
+__pycache__/
+*.py[cod]
+/private-assets/**
+!/private-assets/**/
+!/private-assets/**/.gitkeep
diff --git a/private-assets/.gitkeep b/private-assets/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/private-assets/Data/.gitkeep b/private-assets/Data/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/private-assets/Music/.gitkeep b/private-assets/Music/.gitkeep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/run-open-question-tests.sh b/run-open-question-tests.sh
index 96bc217..9cdaa19 100755
--- a/run-open-question-tests.sh
+++ b/run-open-question-tests.sh
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ python3 open_questions/tools/decision_probe.py all \
   --fixture-manifest "$FIXTURE_MANIFEST" \
   "${INCLUDE_FALLBACK[@]}" \
   --out "$OUT"
-python3 -m unittest discover -s open_questions/tests -v
+env PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE=1 python3 -m unittest discover -s open_questions/tests -v
 
 python3 - "$OUT" "$ROOT/reports/open-questions" <<'PY'
 import json,sys
diff --git a/test-harness.sh b/test-harness.sh
index 0a54e80..3b2f63c 100755
--- a/test-harness.sh
+++ b/test-harness.sh
@@ -3,4 +3,4 @@
 set -euo pipefail
 ROOT="$(cd -- "$(dirname -- "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 cd "$ROOT"
-exec python3 -m unittest discover -s tests -v
+exec env PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE=1 python3 -m unittest discover -s tests -v